Confederate Earthworks
The Battle of Fredericksburg
Twisting through the woods one hundred yards ahead of you are two well-preserved lines of earthworks constructed by Confederate forces in the winter of 1862-1863. General Robert E. Lee had ordered his troops to build the trenches in anticipation of a Union Crossing of the Rappahannock River the following spring. When first built, the works stood two and one-half feet high with a ditch of like depth in the rear, allowing soldiers to stand without exposing themselves to enemy fire.
On the crest of the ridge stand two sets of earthworks that sheltered Confederate artillery. Shooting over the heads of the riflemen in the trenches below, the cannon could sweep the plain between here and the Rappahannock River with a deadly fire.
“The greatest destruction and change in the appearance of the country is from the long lines of trenches and the redoubts which crown every hillside from ten miles above Fredericksburg to twenty miles below. The world has never seen such a fortified position.” Major Sandie Pendleton, CSA staff officer
Marker is at the intersection of Jim Morris Road and Schumann Street, on the right when traveling south on Jim Morris Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
